Most consumer products today, such as woven carpets, are manufactured in developing countries. For a time, consumers were generally content with the imported products (oftentimes being relatively cheap) without much (or any) concern for the people who manufactured the products or their working conditions. At most, people would see the “Made in China”, “Made in Nepal”, “Made in India”, etc. tags or stickers and generally know where the products were made. Social Media and the 24/7 nature of today's news media enables organizations to highlight some of the more dire working conditions and violations of child labor laws associated with the manufacture of consumer products in developing (and sometimes developed) countries. For instance, the United Nations Children's Fund (“UNICEF”) attempts to hold factories in countries across the world to the standards ratified in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Other more grassroots organizations, such as DoSomething.org, also attempt to highlight and end worldwide inhumane working conditions and violations of child labor laws.
While these organizations attempt to police the manufacturers, there is very little transparency at the consumer or merchant level. Reports or website content may highlight the more extreme violations, however, consumers have almost no visibility into the working conditions associated with the actual products they purchase. Moreover, consumers have no transparency into who is actually making the products they purchase.
In addition to child and workplace safety monitoring, product standard organizations, such as the Tibetan Rug Labor Certification Co. (“TLC”), are tasked with certifying that manufactured products (e.g., woven rugs) comply with material requirements, manufacturing method requirements, chemical requirements, etc. This certification indicates to consumers (and merchants) that the product was made using traditional methods and materials. However, there is very little transparency regarding how and when a product received a certification, whether the certification is genuine, or which organization or specific individual performed the certification.
Moreover, as most consumer products are manufactured outside of the United States, custom inspectors are tasked with ensuring the imported products conform to United States rules/regulations and do not violate intellectual property rights. However, custom inspectors are generally limited to the packaging information included with the product. There is very little transparency regarding when a product entered the United States, whether the product passed inspection, or whether the product even passed legally into the United States through customs. There are also questions regarding whether the packaging information or product documentation provided to customs is even legitimate or accurate.